Introduction to population, resources, and sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa

(introductory text...)

Introduction

Internal and international migration

Natural resources

Human resources

Population, agricultural land, and food supply

Population, economy, and sustainable development

References

Population, agricultural land, and food supply

Tables 4.1 and 4.2 suggest that population growth may well be a threat to
land-carrying capacity in several of the Sub-Saharan countries. As the
population totals have increased (and even rural populations have increased,
despite urbanward migration and expansion of the agricultural area), so
landholdings have tended to decrease in size and the fallow area, still
important for restoring fertility, has been reduced.

Dependence on agriculture will involve greater pressures and a more
precarious food situation in future, possibly entailing greater dependence on
food imports and food aid, combined with more intensive production using
improved agricultural technology and innovations. Much of the agricultural base
is widely dispersed, with long distances to market and high transport costs plus
poor market information. Imported food is more centrally marketed, often cheaper
than locally produced food for the urban consumer, and easier to subsidize in
order to support the poor or keep down urban wages. In some cases food imports
are not the effect of low agricultural productivity but, at least in part, the
cause.